HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet 06/04/2001 (5) DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
• City of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
3
City Council Meeting
4
5 Budget Workshop.
6 Wednesday, May 16, 2001
7 Council Chambers
8
9
1 b The Petaluma City Council met at 7:00 P.M. on this date in the Council Chambers.
11
12 ROLL CALL
13 -
14 PRESENT: Vice MayorCader-Thompson; Council Members Healy, Maguire,
15 Moynihan, O'Brien; Mayor Thompson; Council Member Torliatt
16
17 ABSENT: None
18
19 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
20
21 At the request of Mayor Thompson, Matt Connolly, Chelsea GCA Realty, and his son
22 led the Pledge of Allegiance.
03
4 MOMENT OF SILENCE
25
26 At the request of'Mayor Thompson, a moment of silence was observed.
27
28 PUBLIC COMMENT
29
30 Terence Garvey, 83 Maria Drive, congratulated City Management and staff on their
3,1 timely completion of the budget document. He referred to his questions of some weeks
32 earlier regarding the wastewater treatment plant, and wondered when those would be
33 answered.
34
35 Council]Member Healy replied that an extensive staff report on that subject was
36 included in the packet materials'for the meeting of Monday, May 21. He suggested Mr.
37 Garvey review thatdocument.
38
39 City ManagerStoudermentioned that a report in question/answer format was being
40 prepared.and.would be'ready on Friday, May 18. Mr.. Garvey could pick it up that
41 afternoon, or it could be delivered to his home.
42
43 Jessica Vann Gardner, Petaluma Visitors Program, 800 Baywood Drive, congratulated
44 City Management and staff on the timely, easy-to-read budget document. She wanted
• City of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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1 to be sure that the public had the opportunity to participate. She asked if:the. PCDC •
2 Five-Year Plan had. been'formally adopted.
' 3
4 City Manager Stouder replied that it had; however, possible changes to the plan would
5 be discussed at•a.meeting to be scheduled within the next two weeks.
6
7 Matt Connolly, Chelsea GCA Realty, commended City Management and staff:'on the
8 budget document, and thought it imperative that Capital Improvement Projects be
9 revenue-generating projects.
10
11 Diane Reilly-Torres, Rainier Drive, thought that the.City was intentionally preventing
12 citizens from accessing information by charging $.15/page for photocopies of agenda
13 items, and thought the entire agenda packet should be made available on the City's
14 web site.
15
16 COUNCIL COMMENT •
17
18 Council Member Torliatt asked to have a. 10-minute item added to the agenda for the
19 May21, 200,1 meeting to allow the Airport Commission to present their'proposals for
20 airport hangar expansion. She also noted that appointments to the Local.Agency
21 Formation Commission (LAFCO) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)
22 needed tb be agendized..
23 •24 She had received a call regarding policies and selection of projects by the Transient
25 Occupancy Tax (TOT)subcommittee, and wondered if a meeting had been scheduled
26 for that,purpose.
27
28 Council Member Healy replied that the subcommittee would meet Monday, May 21., at
29 1 :30 P.M.
30
31 Council Member Maguire noted thathe would like,to be reappointed to-the
32 Sonoma/Marin Area Rail Transit Commission..He referred to a memo .Council received
33 at places regarding an additional $2:1 million for reprogramming of funds for the Payran
34 Reach,Flood Management Project transition channel. This allocation will allow
35 continuation of the construction of the transition channel this July. He congratulated City
36 Manager Stouder, Director of Water Resources;and Conservation Tom Hargis, and
37 Director of Economic Development and Redevelopment Paul Marangella on this
38 achievement.
39
40 Mayor Thompson concurred that this'reprogramming would not have been possible
41 without the efforts of Mr. Stouder, Mr. Hargis and Mr. Marangella.
42
43 Council Member O'Brien agreed.
44
City of,Petaluma,California •
Draft Minutes of a Special
City.Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16,2001
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aCouncil Member Healy agreed, and explained that this money will also allow design
work to be completed on the trestle: He noted that construction funds are still being
3 sought.
4
5 Council Member Torliatt pointed.out that there were many City employees who
6 deserved thanks as well, saying that, "it takes a village" to make this work.
7
8 Mayor Thompson announced that several Council Members had stated they would be
9 unavailable for the budget workshop meetings scheduled for Wednesday, May 23 and
10 Thursday, May 24. He suggested those meetings be rescheduled for Wednesday, May
11 30 and Thursday, May 31, at 7:00 P.M. He also asked to schedule a meeting for
12 discussion of Council goals and priorities for Monday, June 11 , at 7:00 P.M.
1.3
14 Council concurred.
15
16 NEW BUSINESS
17
18 1 . Budget Workshop
19
20 Finance Director Bill Thomas provided an overview of the FY 2001-2001
21 Preliminary Budget and the financial opportunities and challenges it presented.
22
3 City Manager Stouder noted that this may be the first time in thirty years that the
4 budget has been ready by the date specified in the City's Charter. He thanked
25 Mr. Thomas, Mr. Marangella and City employees for their hard work in preparing
26 the budget. He stressed that the budget•makes it clear that the City must find
27 ways to increase revenue. The City does not have adequate personnel,
28 equipment or otherfinancial resources to sustain and meet growing mandates
29 and citizen and Council expectations.
30
31 Mr. Thomas outlined the City's revenue sources-and compared figures for 1950
32 and 2000, adjusted for inflation.
33 •
34 Council Member Healy, noting that citizens have asked why,.for example, the
35 City of Santa.Rosa is able to provide a higher level of services to the community,
36 explained.that^Santa Rosa has a utility tax. Petaluma's voters have rejected this.
37
38 Mr Stouder stated that a minimal utility surcharge would make many services
39 possible.
40
41 Mr. Thomas explained the General Fund figures.
42
43 Mr. Stouder mentioned that the City has paid "a big price" for not having
44 adequate personnel to manage complex projects.
• City of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16,-2001
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1 •2 Council Member Healy asked Mr: Thomas when the City received information
3 regarding property tax revenues.
4
5 Mr. Thomas explained.
6
7 Council Member Torliattasked if mitigation fees for new development.were
8 included'in the estimates.
9
10 Mr. Thomas replied that they were not He did not expect those numbers to be
11 ready'until August or September.
12
13 Mr. Stouder thought that if the.City were nearing build-out, those fees would be a
14 moot point. He thought the fees were viewed as a bigger sourceofrevenue:than
15 they really were.
16
17 Council Member Moynihan asked for clarification on Transient Occupancy Tax
1.8 (TOT) fund figures.
19
20 Mr. Thomas explained the figures. •
21
22 Council Member Moynihan liked the addition of summary pages to the budget.
23 He:asked-if a breakdown of revenues and expenditures for PCDC'had been •
24 completed.
25
26 Mr. Thomas replied that it had not.
27
28 Council Member"Moynihan stressed,that revenues and expenditures for all City
29 funds must be-equal. He reminded Council of his challenge•to them to budget $5
30 million for street repairs in this,budget: He thought the Council needed to
31 recognize that it was-•underfunding,street maintenance — and that the.City would
32 "pay the price" in the long run if this maintenance continued to be deferred. He
33 thought Council.needed to determine where budget cuts could be made, be it
34 through layoffs, hiring freeze, a 10% cut per department, etc. He thought a truly
35 "balanced" budget would have dealt with needed street maintenance.
36
37 Mr. Stouder replied that Council could, if they so desired,give direction to City
38 Management to return in two-weeks time with possible budget cuts. He added
39 that the way to find moneyto maintain streets was to increase revenues'and
40 taxes. He distributed a list of "budget,brainstorming" ideas.department heads
41 had compiled.
42
43 Council Member Maguire thought Council Member Moynihan's suggestions were
44 completely unrealistic. He pointed out that infrastructure costs were primarily
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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• related to automobile traffic. He thought emphasis should be on alternative
modes of transportation, e.g., trolley, bike paths, to encourage citizens to get out
3 of their cars. He believed the budget was balanced, as presented.
4
5 Council Member Torliatt;thanked City Management and staff for their fine job on
6 the budget, and recognized that it was a "huge job." Shethought that, while it
7 was obvious that the infrastructure of the City was aging, instead of focusing on
8 the fact that the roads are in need of repair, Council should be looking for
9 "concrete suggestions" on where revenues can be found..
10
11 Council Member Healy pointed out that the 5-year,expenditure plan for
12 redevelopment indicate§ $8 million to be spent on street reconstruction.
13 -
14 Council Member O'Brien stated that while he knew that.Council needed to make
15 a commitment.to street repair, he would not agree to any cuts to Public Safety
16 personnel.
17
18 Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson thanked Mr. Thomas for the "countless hours" of
19 effort he and his staff dedicated to preparing the budget..
20
21 City Council
22
... 113 Assistant City Manager Gene Beatty summarized the FY 2001-2002 budget for
14 the City Council. He noteq that it included dues to the Local Agency Formation
25 Commission (LAFCO,) and the League of California Cities, neither of which has
26 been paid in the past.
27
28 Council Member Moynihan asked if the budget for City Council could be reduced.
29
30 Council Member Torliatt-asked how that could happen.
31
32 Council Member Moynihan asked if he should go into detail.
33
34 Discussion followed regarding the process for the evening's meeting. Mayor
35 Thompson explained that it was to be an overview of the budget: No voting would
36 occur.
37
38 Council Member`Moynihan wanted clarification of Risk Management figures.
39
40 Council Member Maguire stated that City Management and staff had produced
41 the City's budget for many years. In his years as a Council Member,.he had
42 learned that one could proceed on the assumption that the budget and
43 recommendations were sound. He suggested Council meet for a final session to
44 receive clarification they needed.
•' City,of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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1 •2 MayorT,hompson again reminded Council that the meeting was a Budget
3 Workshop. No action would be taken.
4
5 Council Member Moynihan wanted to reduce the City Council budget from
6 $228,000 to $200,000. He did not think it fair for City departments to be asked to
7 reduce their by 10% if the Council did not do the same. He;asked City
8 Management to come back to Council with recommendations on howthis could
9 be accomplished.
10
11 Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson thought the purpose of the meeting was toGallow
12 City Management to present the budget. Council could ask general questions.
13 -
14 Council Member Healy agreed that Council should set an example of budget
15 reduction, perhaps by cutting goal setting facilitation or seminars,and training.
16
17 Council Member Maguire disagreed, saying he found goal setting facilitation
18 important and seminars very valuable. He pointed out that Petaluma's City
19 Council budget, compared to all other cities in the County, was "nothing`"
20
21 Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson found seminars offered very valuable information.
22
23 Council Member Torliatt noted that budget increases, in some cases, were the
24 result of City Management's choice of department in which to place a budget'line
25 item. She didn't think it prudent to review the budget line by line. If that were
26 . done, she did-not think Council would get the budget approved before the end of
27 the year.
28
29 Mayor Thompson suggested Council schedule an additional budget workshop to
30 discuss areas about which they were concerned.
31
32 Council Member•Moynihan thought Council was "giving up on the City's streets."
33 He thought budgets cuts needed to be made.
34
35 Mayor Thompson noted that Council had not discussed or adopted Council
36 Member Moynihan's $5 million figure for streetrepair.
37
38 Council Member Maguire stated that "inflammatory°rhetoric" was not constructive
39 towards reaching agreement on adoption of the budget. He liked Mayor
40 Thorn pson's suggestion that Council meet for an additional session to discuss
41 particular concerns.
42 -
43 City ManagerStouder thought it unfair to say that the City "was giving up on
44 streets."
City of Petaluma, Californian •
Draft Minutes of a Special
'City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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1
Mayor Thompson reiterated that this evening's meeting was intended as a
3 budget overview by City Management and staff_This was not the time to decide
4 on budget cuts. He suggested Assistant City Manager Beatty continue his
5 presentation.
6
7 Council Member Moynihan thought Council needed to ask questions and receive
8 answers from City Management, in order to determine how to fund street repair
9 and maintenance.
1.0
11 Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson announced that she was leaving the meeting. (9:00
12 P.M.)
13 -
14 Council Member Torliatt suggested that Council agree on a dollar amount by
15 which the budget should:be cut, and allow City Management to return with
16 suggestions for accomplishing this. She.did not want to go through the budget
• 17 line by line.
•
18
19 Mayor Thompson believed it imperative that Council hear City Management's
20 summary presentation in order to determine where cuts could be made.
21
22 Council Member Torliatt agreed.
X14 Council Member Maguire agreed, and added that Council had not made a
25 collective decision about how much should be spent on City streets. He thought it
26 important to first understand the budget document.
27
28 Mayor Thompson announced that he would meet with City Manager Stouder
29 tomorrow to discuss the process and format of the budget workshops.
30
31 Council Member Healy pointed out that there were issues other than streets
32 needing attention..
33
34 Council Member Moynihan stated that he had a number of issues with various
35 department's budgets: He wanted the opportunity to question the budget figures,
36 and would not be bullied out of doing so.
37
38 City Manager
39
40 Assistant City Manager Gene Beatty summarized the budget for the City
- 41 Manages Department.
42
43 Council Member:Moynihan questioned the number of positions allocated to the
44 department, and wondered if any of them could be combined. He also asked for
• City of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16,2001
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1 a breakdown of consultants by department and project.
2 Mr. Beatty pointed out,that in some cases, under a line item figure, examples had
3 been included, but the list may not be inclusive, and so may not add up to the
4 total line item figure.
5
6 Information Systems
7
8 Assistant City Manager Gene Beatty introduced highlights of the FY 2001-2002
9 Information Systems Department budget. He described the budget as,a
10 "maintenance budget."
11
12 Council Member Maguire asked if Information Systems had an estimate:of how
13 much would be saved by making Council Meeting agenda "packets' available on- _
14 line.
15
16 City Manager Stouder pointed out that placing agenda items on line would not
17 result in less paper being used — as individuals'would print out the=items. He
18 thought that while technology increased potential accessibility, it did not-decrease
19 costs.
20
21 Information Systems Manager Tim Williamsen said a figure had not yet been
22 reached for placing agenda items on-line.
23 •
24 Mr. Stouder pointed out that accuracy and attention to detail were each
25 department's responsibility. He did not think all departments were consistently
26 achieving this. -
27
28 Council Member Torliatt would like the.City Clerk to provide an estimate of time
29 required each week for maintenance of the City's web presence. She thought
30 that having the agenda item information available:on-line would reduce the
31 amount of time staff spent:answering questions by phone, etc. She:described
32 today's society as an "Information Society," citing citizens' increased desire for
33 information. One of her goals was to make this available.
34
35 Council Member Moynihan asked if maintenance of the City's web site will be
36 transferred:to the Information Services Department with the resignation<o •City
37 Clerk Beverly Kline.
38
39 Mayor Thompson replied that,this would be discussed when the City Clerk
•
40 Department budget was discussed.
41
42 Council Member Moynihan questioned line items in the Information Systems
43 budget.
44
City of Petaluma, California •
Draft Minutes of.a Special
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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.1 Mr. Williamsen explained that,one item resulted from the City's phone bills being
2- centralized in the IS Department A number of the bills were formerly charged to
3 the respective departments. Costs for software maintenance were also
4 centralized.
5
6 Council Member Moynihan asked for list of other budget items that had been
7 centralized.
8
9 PUBLIC COMMENT
10
11 Diane Reilly-Torres, Rainier Avenue, asked if she could e-mail questions to Council
12 regarding the budget. She thought that Council Member Moynihan was not following the
13 meeting agenda. She challenged him to find ways to increase revenue instead of
14 focusing on ways to cut services.
15
16 Geoff Cartwright, 56 Rocca Drive, was glad to see that Council was not rushing to cut
17 services. He wondered if there were any grants to which the City might be entitled for
18 road repair. He commended Council.and City Management and staff for their hard work
19 on the Payran Reach Flood Control Project.
20
21 City Manager Stouder noted that-the City owes a debt of gratitude to Congresswoman
22 Lynn Woolsey for her efforts on its behalf, and to Stacy L'evandowsky, Legislative
.3 Director for Congresswoman Woolsey. _
24
25 ADJOURN
26
27 The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 P.M.
28
29
30
31 E. Clark Thompson, Mayor
32
33
34 ATTEST`: •
35
36
37 Claire Cooper, Clerk Pro Tem
38
39
40 •
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44 " "' * * `
• City of Petaluma, California
Draft Minutes of a Special
City Council Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2001
Page 9